The present disclosure relates generally to information handling systems, and more particularly to a power distribution system for information handling systems
As the value and use of information continues to increase, individuals and businesses seek additional ways to process and store information. One option is an information handling system (IHS). An IHS generally processes, compiles, stores, and/or communicates information or data for business, personal, or other purposes. Because technology and information handling needs and requirements may vary between different applications, IHSs may also vary regarding what information is handled, how the information is handled, how much information is processed, stored, or communicated, and how quickly and efficiently the information may be processed, stored, or communicated. The variations in IHSs allow for IHSs to be general or configured for a specific user or specific use such as financial transaction processing, airline reservations, enterprise data storage, or global communications. In addition, IHSs may include a variety of hardware and software components that may be configured to process, store, and communicate information and may include one or more computer systems, data storage systems, and networking systems.
Some IHSs such as, for example, Power over Ethernet (PoE) enabled IHSs are configured to provide power to other IHSs over the Ethernet cables that connect them. For example, PoE enabled switch IHSs may include a power system that couples to a power source such as a wall outlet, as well as to a PoE engine that is configured to provide power from the power source to powered IHSs connected to ports on the POE enabled switch IHS. However, such PoE enabled switch IHSs typically have a limited amount of power to distribute to their connected powered IHSs due to, for example, the need to use a majority of the power received by the power system from the power source to power the PoE enabled switch IHS and/or its components. When subject to a power usage spike, those PoE enabled switch IHSs may not have enough power for each of its connected powered IHSs.
Conventional solutions to this problem involved assigning a priority to each of the powered IHSs connected to a PoE enabled switch IHS, and providing power received by the power system from the power source to the powered IHSs based on their priorities. For example, a user of the PoE enabled switch IHS may assign a priority tag such as “critical”, “high”, and “low” to ports on the PoE enabled switch IHS that are connected to powered IHSs depending the importance of the operation of those powered IHSs to the user. When power is limited, or a powered IHS connected to a port on the PoE enabled switch that is assigned a higher priority needs more power, ports on the PoE enabled switch that are assigned a lower priority may be shut down, or have their supplied power reduced, in order to ensure that power is available to ports on the PoE enabled switch that are assigned a higher priority. However, such solutions lead to lower availability of powered IHSs, which can add cost associated with running the system, loss of data, and calls to technical support.
Accordingly, it would be desirable to provide an improved power distribution system.